Brandon Valley avenges loss against Tigers

Posted: Tuesday, Feb 12th, 2013BY: MIKE CARROLL

Huron’s Hayden Busch puts up a shot, which is contested by Brandon Valley’s Adam Bauer during their game Saturday at Huron Arena. Next, Huron’s James White looks for a teammate to pass the ball to during Saturday’s game against Brandon Valley at Huron Arena. And next, Huron’s Adam Zwanziger goes up for a layup during a game Saturday against Brandon Valley at Huron Arena. PHOTOS BY MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN

HURON — In a battle between two teams in the hunt for the Eastern South Dakota Conference championship, Brandon Valley emerged with a 50-40 victory against Huron on Saturday at Huron Arena.

The Lynx, who improved to 11-6 overall and 8-4 in the ESD, used eight unanswered points to close the opening quarter with a 10-4 lead and never trailed after that.

“When you come out and get off to a slow start and you know its going to be a physical game its tough,” Huron coach Tim Buddenhagen said. “We didn’t hit the 3-point shots and they did.

“It wasn’t important enough for us,” he added of the ESD title being on the line. “They wanted it more and played better than we did.”

Chase Marso hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap the rally in the first quarter for the Lynx.

Brandon Valley then outscored the Tigers 13-4 to start the second quarter, with Nic Peterson accounting for eight of those points including a pair of 3-pointers.

After trailing by as many as 15 points, Huron used a 3-pointer and a free throw by Lucas Morris and a field goal by JP Noonan to close the opening half with six unanswered points.

The Tigers were able to close the gap even further during the third quarter, as they pulled to within a point, at 31-30, on a jumper by Morrison with 50 seconds to play in the stanza.

However, back-to-back turnovers on Huron’s next two possessions enabled Brandon Valley to carry a 35-30 lead into the final quarter. The Lynx then used six unanswered points to pull away in the fourth quarter for the victory.

“We turned the ball over way too much and you can’t guard turnovers,” Buddenhagen said.

“We needed to play with more passion than we did today,” he added. “On loose balls we were about 50/50, we just weren’t hustling to pick them up. We didn’t do the little things we needed to do.”

Justin Decker had 16 points to lead the Tigers, who are now 12-6 overall and 7-5 in the ESD. Adam Zwanziger also reached double figures with 10 points and had a team-high six rebounds, while Morrison had eight points.

Huron is now off until Saturday, when it faces Mitchell at 4:45 p.m. at the Corn Palace. Brandon Valley plays at Yankton on Thursday.